- Joined
- Jul 28, 2008
- Messages
- 6,344
- Reaction score
- 6
- Location
- Hampshire uk
- Hive Type
- national
- Number of Hives
- 6
Have you used an Oxalic acid treatment this winter?
Thats a good idea Mike, because when I did mine and got the following results I was quite shocked. On asking the question on this forum it turns out the drop is quite low.A further thought how about adding first 24 hours mite drop figures - this would let members have some idea how their colonies are faring.
Mike
Here are my results
- pre Oxalic treatment ave <1 day
- 24 hrs after OA - ~ 200
- 48 hrs after OA ~ 50
-96 hrs after OA <10
No I treated with Bayvarol, but see my post http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=387Hi Jimbo
Did you treat with Apiguard a couple of months back ?
Also as per Ians post above, I have done IPM through out the season, and all of my hives are the result of AS.So varroa has had 8 or 9 weeks to increase numbers. This is about 6 varroa lifecycles and they can double their numbers each lifecycle. So a total drop of 100 doesn't sound too bad. But if it's 100 day after day that would be a worry.
Ref http://www.scientificbeekeeping.com//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58According to Martin (1998), one can estimate the total mite population by multiplying the daily drop by 250-500 when the colony is broodless, or by 20-40 when brood is present. Other authors come up with a spectrum of different conversion factors. Luckily, you don?t really need to know the total mite population?you only need to know if the natural daily drop indicates that the mites are at a ?tolerable? level on their growth curve. Note that stickyboard readings can be wildly inaccurate at the beginning or ending of broodrearing, as mites ?transition? from the adult bees to brood, or vice versa. Stickies are the best sampling method during normal broodrearing periods while brood is emerging.
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